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Wiki: Jürgen Mossack

Early life[edit source | edit]

Mossack was born in Fürth, Bavaria, Germany on 20 March 1948.[1] His father Erhard Mossack was a Rottenführer (senior corporal) in the Waffen-SS, the armed wing of the Nazi Party's Schutzstaffel, during World War II. According to U.S. intelligence files, he offered to spy for the Americans. His father moved to Panama with his family in the early 1960s, where he offered his services to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), spying on Communist activity in nearby Cuba.[2][3] In 2016, Germany's Federal Intelligence Service, when contacted by journalists, said they had documents relating to Erhard Mossack but would not share any information, owing to possible security risks.[4][5]

Mossack received a bachelor's degree in Law from Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua in 1973.[2][6]

Career[edit source | edit]

In 1975, Mossack worked as a lawyer in London before returning to Panama to start a firm in 1977. Mossack’s practice only became Mossack Fonseca in 1986, when it merged with the tiny firm run by Ramón Fonseca Mora, a Panamanian novelist, lawyer, and politician.[2][4]

Mossack served on Conarex, Panama’s council on foreign relations, from 2009 to 2014.[2]

In April 2016, leaked documents from the company's private archive, dubbed the "Panama Papers", revealed detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors. Mossack is a member of IBA[specify] ; STEP;[specify] Panama Bar Association; International Maritime Association; and the Maritime National Association.[6]

Mossack’s holdings, according to the files obtained by ICIJ, include a teak plantation and other real estate, an executive helicopter, a yacht named Rex Maris and a collection of gold coins.[2]

Personal life[edit source | edit]

Mossack has two daughters, Andrea and Nicole, who have been covered in the Panamanian press since at least 2003 for showjumping.[7][8]

Mossack is a member of the prestigious Club Union, where his daughter Nicole made her debut in 2008.[9] She is married to Tomás Altamirano[10]